I didn’t think it was possible, but it is. You can make vegan Mexican meatball soup! I happened upon an instagram account @vegan_mexican and they kept posting pictures of vegan Mexican meatball soup. I almost lost it right there and then. My grandma used to make this soup for me growing up and I have very fond memories of this. So naturally, I contacted the account to see if they wanted to share the recipe with you and they said yes! Here is a small interview with the author of the recipe and instagram account, Brianna García.

1. Tell us more about yourself where you are from, and how you became vegan.

My name is Brianna García and I’m from California. I reside in the Los Angeles/ Anaheim area. I became vegan after becoming interested in organic/natural living and knew that veganism was for me. I had previously gone vegetarian in my teens and had always wished I was vegetarian again didn’t think it was possible to go vegan until I made the plunge and I’ll never look back! I also love the animal and environmentally friendly impact veganism has.

2. What do you think is your biggest challenge as a vegan?

The biggest challenge I would say is convenience. It’s not difficult being vegan. There are so many vegan options. I just wish there was vegan restaurants and vegan grocery stores on every corner like there is with a McDonalds.

3. The recipe is your moms. Is your mom vegan? How about the rest of your family?

The non-vegan recipe is my mothers. I asked her to show me how she made albondigas so that I could do my vegan take on it. I wanted it to be authentic as possible, but vegan. She isn’t vegan. However, I have helped her implement a lot more vegan/organic things into her diet. Nobody but my partner is vegan.

4. What are some of your favorite go-to vegan recipes?

My favorite go-to vegan recipes are the ones that are quick to make when I’m lazy and hungry. I seriously love vegan potato tacos, and they’re so easy to make. All I had to substitute was the cheese for a vegan one. I usually make Gardein dinners quite often too. I also used to make organic vegan fruit smoothies a lot for breakfast. It’s amazing how delicious fruit tastes with no added terrible ingredients.

Thank you Brianna for sharing your amazing recipe with us. My family really enjoyed it and it brought back sooo many memories.

The Recipe: Vegan Mexican Meatball Soup

Brianna did an excellent job at making this recipe very detailed, so you shouldn’t have a problem at all following along. The recipe calls for two things that no matter what, you cannot substitute. Those are gardein beefless ground and the new follow your heart vegan egg. (This is not an ad. No monetary compensation is being provided by gardein or follow your heart.) If you don’t use these, your meatballs might fall apart while cooking, like mine, did the first time I made this soup. This vegan Mexican meatball soup is a hearty soup filled with carrots, potatoes, celery, and amazingly tender meatballs. Enjoy!

Making the meatballs

Follow the instructions on the package of the vegan eggs and make about 2 vegan eggs. Add half of the egg mixture to the meatball mix and mix well. Make sure the mix is eggy enough to shape the meatballs. If necessary, add more of the vegan egg mixture until you get the desired consistency.

Form 8- 10 meatballs with your hands. Add them to the simmering broth.

It's crucial not to stir the meatballs too much or they'll fall apart. Cook for 15 minutes or so.

While the meatballs are cooking, chop the carrots, celery, and zucchini into small dice. Do quarter cuts for the potato.

Add the cut up carrots, celery, zucchini, potato and yellow peppers (do not cut) to the pot. Lower heat to medium-low until vegetables are cooked. Cover pot and let it thoroughly cook together for about 15 minutes.

Add cilantro for finishing touch and let cook for a few minutes and you should have vegan albondigas! Don't forget the warm tortillas! Or even avocado slices!

This sounded so good. Then I looked up the ingredients to the two necessary ingredients. The “eggs” have nutritional yeast to which both my daughter and I are allergic to and the meatless crumbles are made of soy protein which I am allergic to. Bummer. These two allergyies make enjoying vegan food a bit difficult. I’ll have to see if the recipe is good without the albondigas! Oops, after seeing the vegan soup flavorings which have natural flavor or soy (at least, every one I’ve seen has it) there isn’t much left but veggies. Ah well, I like tortilla soup.

Hi Timaree I’m sorry you are not able to prepare this. I can’t even imagine how difficult it must be to always be watching out for those ingredients, especially since they are both widely used in vegan cuisine.

Wow, I was just talking to someone yesterday asking if her mother might share her Vegan Albongida Soup recipe. I have been wanting Albondigas for so long now. Can’t wait, excited! BTW Dora, what did you try and substitute with your version that made them fall apart? I ask because right away I thought of Soy Crumbles, TVP and Flax Eggs as susbstitutes.

This recipe was delicious, but I used Trader Joe’s Beef-less ground beef crumbles and they completely fell apart, I tried adding a small amount of flour and cornstarch, which helped until they came into contact with the broth. I’d still make this again though!

Hi Susan. I have also tried this recipe with the beyond meat crumbles and they completely fall apart. For some reason only the gardein beefless ground works. If you have your heart set on the trader joe’s version I would try adding more egg and more rice, and see if that works.

I made this last night. I used the Gardein Beefless crumbles as recomended. I used egg because I’m not vegan. It did not hold together at all. I added another and then a 3rd. That didn’t work either. I ended up making the soup with the crumbles as they are. It was delicious.